1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a seat assembly for a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a compact seat assembly that can comfortably accommodate substantially any occupant in the second row of a vehicle.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
To increase the versatility of vehicles, many modern vehicles include seats that fold or collapse. These seats commonly are designed to move to a stowed position to maximize cargo space in the vehicle. One problem with many stowable or compact vehicle seats and, in particular rear vehicle seats, is that they are currently only comfortable for a limited segment of the population. As vehicles become more compact and consumers demand more functionality from their vehicles, manufacturers strive to improve the comfort of these seats for a wider segment of the population.
One issue with improving the comfort of stowable and compact seats is that various design configurations and requirements prevent or limit designers from incorporating many comfort features that are often used in the front seats of vehicles. For example, space and folding requirements may prevent or limit certain features from being included in rear vehicle seats. In addition, given that most rear seats in vehicles are occupied less frequently than the front seats, manufacturers generally desire to reduce or minimize the weight of the rear seats to improve the vehicle's fuel economy. Other comfort features found in the front seats, such as power tilt for adjusting the angle of the lower seat cushion are generally not cost effective for the rear seats of most vehicles.
Another issue with stowable rear vehicle seats is that they are generally unable to comfortably accommodate tall occupants. Specifically, due to space constraints between the rear and front seats, tall occupants do not have thigh support with their feet on the floor of the vehicle. While minimizing space, minimizing cost and maximizing comfort are important for rear vehicle seats, it is imperative that the seat also be resistant to failure during crashes, such as front-impact collisions.